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- Title
Vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression in bladder transitional cell cancer and its relationship to lymph node metastasis.
- Authors
Zu, Xiongbing; Tang, Zhengyan; Li, Yuan; Gao, Ning; Ding, Jian; Qi, Lin
- Abstract
OBJECTIVE To elucidate the role of vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) in bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), examining VEGF-C expression in bladder TCC tissue and the association of VEGF-C with clinicopathological features, as the expression of VEGF-C in several carcinomas is significantly associated with angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis and regional lymph node metastasis, but there are few reports of VEGF-C expression in bladder TCC. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study included 45 patients with bladder TCC; VEGF-C expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry and the association between VEGF-C expression and angiogenesis, as evaluated by microvessel density (MVD), was examined. RESULTS There was VEGF-C expression in the cytoplasm of tumour cells, but very little in the normal transitional epithelium. VEGF-C expression was significantly associated with tumour size, pathological T stage, pathological grade, lymphatic-venous involvement and pelvic lymph node metastasis (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that VEGF-C expression was an exclusive independent factor influencing pelvic lymph node metastasis. Moreover, the patients with high VEGF-C expression had a markedly poorer prognosis than those with no or low VEGF-C expression ( P = 0.014). A multivariate analysis based on the Cox proportional hazard model showed that lymph node metastasis was only an independent prognostic factor in the multivariate analysis using the Cox regression model ( P = 0.010). CONCLUSION The present study provides evidence supporting the involvement of VEGF-C expression in the promotion of lymph node metastasis in bladder TCC. Examination of VEGF-C expression in biopsy specimens might be beneficial in predicting pelvic lymph node metastasis.
- Subjects
BLADDER cancer; CANCER cells; LYMPHATIC metastasis; VASCULAR endothelial growth factors; LYMPH nodes; CANCER prognosis; CLINICAL pathology
- Publication
BJU International, 2006, Vol 98, Issue 5, p1090
- ISSN
1464-4096
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1464-410X.2006.06446.x